Kaye
George is a twice-Agatha-nominated novelist and short story writer whose
stories have been published separately and in several anthologies. She reviews
for Suspense Magazine and blogs on a group blog and a solo one. Learn more
about Kaye and her stories at her website.
Kaye has graciously offered either a paperback or ebook of Smoke, her latest release, to one of our readers who posts a comment to the blog this week. -- AP
Kaye has graciously offered either a paperback or ebook of Smoke, her latest release, to one of our readers who posts a comment to the blog this week. -- AP
What Can Your Pet Do for You?
We've all heard stories of
dogs and even cats saving families when the house is burning, stories of
trained helper dogs such as seeing-eye dogs, even stories of pets predicting
epileptic seizures.
But there are lots of other
ways a pet can benefit the owner. Web MD lists five ways in this article (http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/features/health-benefits-of-pets).
Pets can be~~
(1) Allergy fighters.
Sometimes children grow up less prone to allergies in households with furry
pets. That didn't work for us. We had had cats since before we had kids, but
our second child turned out to be allergic. We first got rid of our remaining
cat. His litter mate had died a month or two before our son started having
asthma attacks. That was a sad day. Max, the cat, had a skin condition that
required cortisone shots once a month, so we couldn't get anyone to adopt him and
had to have him put to sleep. Max had the loudest purr of any cat we've ever
had. A year later, our son developed an allergy to Ruffles, Duchess of
Frecklefoot, our Golden Retriever. That was like getting rid of one of my kids!
We did find a good home for her. A few years later, we got another dog--the
kids begged and begged--and our son, who had been taking allergy shots, never was
severely allergic to pets again.
(2) Date magnets. Hey, I'm
not looking for a date, having been married for mumble-mumble years, but even I
talk to people about their pets.
(3) Dogs for the aged. My
eighty-year-old mother came to live with us for seven months near the end of
her life. Our current Golden, Cory (Corona Golden Sunshine--our kids always
named the dogs), was a joy to her. She never liked cats and remarked more than
once that they had "terrible eyes". But she was best buddies with
Cory. Cory, of course, was best buddies with everyone. The only exceptions were
two service people who came to the house on two different occasions. When Cory
growled at someone, I left her in the house the whole time that person was
there. If Cory told me they were OK, I would sometimes put her in the yard so
she wouldn't bother them too much.
There are programs nationwide
that sponsor groups taking pets to nursing homes. I think that's an excellent
use for pets! A San Francisco SPCA program sponsors people bringing dogs,
guinea pigs, rabbits, even cats to see the elderly. Here's a video of a pot
belly pig visiting some oldsters--
(4) Good for mind and soul.
Being around a friendly animal helps with depression and raises levels of the
feel good transmitters serotonin and dopamine.
(5) Good for the heart.
Having a pet lengthens the life of those who have had heart attacks and even
lowers triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
Since I included a pet pot
belly pig in my second Imogene Duckworthy novel, I'll have to see to it that
the family doesn’t run into allergies, depression, or heart trouble. So far,
Marshmallow hasn't been a date magnet for Immy, but that could happen in the
future.
Thanks for joining us today, Kaye! I love the names
of both your pets and your protagonist! Readers, if you’d like a chance to win
a copy of Smoke, post a comment, and be sure to check back on Sunday
to see if you’re the lucky winner. --
AP
